Respondents were asked whether they agree or disagree with a series of statements about perceived influence of voting and decision-making in the government, and women’s autonomy in decision-making.

Women and men both have mixed assessments of whether, “People like me can have an influence on decisions made by the government.” Forty-two percent of women strongly/somewhat disagree and 59% of men strongly/somewhat disagree that they can influence decisions made by the government (Figure 6). Only 26% of men and 37% of women strongly/somewhat agree with this statement, and 21% of women and 14% of men say they don’t know.

When framed in a way that asks specifically about whether they think voting gives them a chance to influence decision-making in their country respondents are equally pessimistic. Only 38% of women and 31% of men agree that voting gives them a chance to influence decision-making (Figure 7). Forty-two percent of women and 56% of men disagree.

Belief in the power of the vote, however, increases with education levels for both men and women. Majorities of women with intermediate education (54%) and secondary or more education (56%) strongly/somewhat agree voting gives them influence (Figure 8). Similarly, almost half of men with secondary or more education agree voting gives them influence (49%).

By age group, we see younger women aged 18 to 24 disagree in the power of their vote (51%) more than women in other age groups. Noteworthy, however, is the fact that 34% of women aged 55 and older say they don’t know whether their vote gives people like them a chance to influence decision-making in their country. Between women in urban areas and women in rural areas, 45% of urban women compared to 29% of rural women agree their vote gives them influence. Still, a quarter of rural women (28%) say they don’t know if voting gives them influence and this is double the percentage of urban women who say they don’t know (14%).

Regarding women’s ability to freely make their own decisions when voting, a majority of men and women, with more women than men, strongly or somewhat agree with this statement (73% and 67%, respectively). However, more women strongly agree with this statement (57%) than men (24%), with men more likely to only somewhat agree with this statement (43%) than women (16%) (Figure 9). Between women there are slight variations in intensity of opinion. By age groups, there are not statistically significant differences except women ages 55 and older are most likely to say they don’t know (23%) than women in any other age group. By educational attainment, women with some education (64% less than primary education, 62% primary education, 66% intermediate education, 65% secondary or more education) are more likely than women with no education (50%) to strongly agree women can make their own decisions when voting. Sixty-two percent of urban women strongly agree compared to 52% of rural women. Also, 20% of rural women say they don’t know compared to only 8% of urban women.

When asked about women’s involvement in various aspects of politics, majorities of both men and women strongly agree that women should be involved in politics at a variety of levels. Yet, statistically significant differences appear between the percentage of men who strongly agree and women who strongly agree with women in these roles, as seen in Figure 10. There are also statistically significant differences between men and women who strongly/somewhat oppose women as members of parliament (24% men oppose, 5% women oppose), ministers in government (24% men, 5% women), working on candidate campaigns (37% men, 13% women), participating in political protests (37% men, 18% women), and members of political parties (25% men, 5% women). Despite majorities of men who support women in these roles, the percentage of men who oppose, and the difference between genders, is significant when examining potential attitudinal barriers to women’s participation in these types of activities.

When aggregating opinions on the involvement of women in different aspects of the political process, regardless of the type of process, we find that 77% of women support women’s involvement in all five of these political roles, 8% support women in four of these roles, 8% support women in three of these roles, 1% support women in two of these roles, less than 1% only support women in one of these roles and 6% of women do not support women’s participation in any of these roles.

On the other hand, we see men are less likely to support women in all of these roles and more likely to not support women in any of these roles. When looking at men’s support of women’s involvement in different aspects of the political process, the data shows 51% of men support women’s involvement in all five of these political roles, 14% support women in four of these roles, 9% support women in three of these roles, 2% support women in two of these roles, and 5% support women in one of these roles. Meanwhile, two in ten men (20%) do not support women’s participation in any of these roles.

In contrast, while men and women may believe women should be involved in politics and in political leadership positions, men are still viewed as better business executives and political leaders by a significant percentage of both men and women.

When respondents were asked whether they agree or disagree with the statements “On the whole, men make better political leaders than women do” and “On the whole, men make better business executives than women do,” the data shows a significant gender difference in opinions on these questions

(Figure 11 and 12). A majority of men agree that men are better political leaders (67%) and business executives (65%) than women whereas a majority of women (55%) disagree with these statements that men are better political leaders or better business executives. Still, it must be noted that a significant share of women agree men make better political leaders than women do (34%) and men make better business executives than women do (35%). Education levels amongst women do not seem to impact this perception, nor does it matter if women live in urban or rural settlements (Figure 13). Participation in the work force also does not impact women’s opinions on whether men make better business executives in any significant way. Sixty-one percent of working women disagree compared to 54% of non-working women.

These findings highlight the fact that this traditional stereotype of men being better in leadership roles continues to exist throughout Moroccan society, not just among men but among some women as well. This pervasive perception in society by both men and some women may tend to keep more men in these positions and can hinder women from attaining these types of leadership positions.